ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the introduction to the book drawing on the concept of ‘European teacher’ proposed by Michael Schratz, justifying its relevance for teacher education today. It starts with an analysis of the most pressing issues affecting teachers and teacher education in Europe (such as mobility, a changing and diverse student population, unemployment, and declining teacher status), setting forth the need for social cohesion, social justice, and equality in the preparation of future teachers. In this respect it presents the HOWBET (How to Become a European Teacher) Summer School, an ERASMUS Mobility Intensive Programme that took place in Portugal in 2014 and brought together pre-service teachers and teacher educators from eight European universities. This summer school offered pre-service teachers an opportunity to develop crucial competences to address the challenges they will encounter in their classrooms, while promoting an international collaborative environment favourable to reflecting upon the future of teacher education and the teaching profession. The chapter goes on to present the aims, themes and structure of the book, with a summary of the book’s main parts and chapters.
